Making New Bottles Look Old

Left: New Bottle,  Right: Aged Bottle

As previously posted, I have been creating a number of potion bottles in different styles for my Halloween Potion Lab.  I want some of my bottles to look very old--like they have been sitting around for quite a while, collecting dust and getting grungy.  Since they will be used for decanting beverages, I want the the bottles to be food-safe.  Thrift store glass bottles are bad choices because I have no idea how they may have been used previously.  So I have been augmenting new bottles.


Rather than achieve an aged look with paint,  I tried to seasoned the outside of the bottles as I do cast iron cookware.  This experiment was very successful.  Seasoning cookware requires applying thin layers of oil and baking the cookware between the layers to create a hard, protective outer surface.


Caveat: There are products and techniques to paint on glass that require the glass to be heated to a temperature in excess of 300 degrees Fahrenheit.  This can be successfully done when proper care is taken to ensure that glass is not subjected to quick changes in temperature.  Be sure to start with undamaged glass--no cracks or chips please.  Be sure to place glass in a COOL oven, allowing the temperature of the glass to rise as the oven temperature rises.  Also make sure to turn off the oven with the glass inside, allowing it to cool as the oven cools.  Do not attempt to change the temperature of your glass quickly because that is how breakage happens.


I used flaxseed oil on my bottles because it is a "drying oil" which would give a hard finish while still being food safe.  It gave a yellowish sheen that was exactly what I had been looking for.  Since organic flaxseed oil is what I'm already using to season pans, I thought it was ideal.   My first experiment was with canola oil which gave the right sheen but was sticky.  So do yourself a favor and use a drying oil.  If you are simply aging bottles for display, you can use linseed oil instead.  To read a bit more about the chemistry of seasoning surfaces with oil, check out this post on Sheryl Canter's blog.


Before seasoning the bottles, I wiped down the clean bottles with rubbing alcohol and let them dry.  Next, I applied an extremely thin layer of my organic flaxseed oil to the outside of a clean dry bottles.  Then I wiped it off which left behind a very thin, almost imperceptible layer.  I placed the bottles on a foil-lined pan in a cool oven.  Then I turned the oven on to 350 degrees.  I baked them for about an hour and a half before turning off the oven and allowing the glass to cool down while inside the oven.  Once the bottles were cool, I repeated the process to build up a few layers.  It does take some time but the process was easy and the results were worth it.


Be aware that any pattern of oil streaks you leave on the glass will show.  Also, too thick of a layer will cause the hot oil to drip down the bottle, creating dark yellow droplets.  So make sure you create only the slightest haze on the surface when you wipe away the oil.  I experimented with several glass beer bottles in the pursuit of the right technique for applying the oil so you might consider some trial bottles before moving on to your favorite one.


The aged bottle pictured has three layers of oil.

Syrup of Hellebore Bottle

This potion bottle project was created using eggshells and glue to cover a bottle.  The surface was then detail painted.  The process of using eggshells to create a cracked ceramic-looking surface is fairly time-consuming.  However, the effect is pretty good and the project goes much better when the bottle is covered a little at a time and allowed to dry between sections.

Step-by-step instructions for this bottle are available here: Eggshell-Covered Potion Bottle.

You can read about how I make these labels here: Aged Paper Labels

Green Gem Potion Bottle

This potion bottle is one of my kids' favorites.  It features a green gem, created using my Faux Gemstone technique which is set into a large black blob-like medallion made from polymer clay.  The medallion features tentacles which wrap around the bottle somewhat.  Two of them have been extended and wrapped around the neck of the bottle.  A similar green gem was set atop the cork stopper.

Although polymer clay does not permanently adhere to glass, the clay here has not been glued to the glass because it is wrapped around the glass, keeping it in place. 

The contents of this bottle are simply green colored water and vegetable oil.  The oil seems to have taken on a greenish color since I filled the bottle several years ago.  The strange bubbles in the top layer of the contents are the result of my shaking the bottle prior to taking the picture.  I have glued the cork permanently in place, making this a display bottle only.

Potion Ingredient Jar Set

These old jars were purchased off ebay as they are, with distressed lids.  Because I don't know what these bottles originally held, they couldn't be used for any spices that might go into food so they can only be used as props.  I filled each with something that looked like an ingredient and printed up labels on sticker paper.  I used a font that I liked to print the name of the contents and went over this with a permanent brush-tipped marker to give them a hand-quilled look. A basic black border is all that these required.  Anything else would have seemed like too much.  The ingredients and their labels are as follows:

• Dried Doxy Venom: turbinado sugar
• Beetle Eyes: black dragees (bought in a cake/candy decorating shop)
• Dessicated Rat Brains: bulk-purchased dried garbanzo beans
• Bowtruckle Skin: thin bark stripped off fallen branches
• Asphodel Leaf: tarragon
• Knarl Quills: pine needles cut to roughly equal lengths

Knotwork Potion Bottle

The purple started out as an eight-sided spice jar.  I started out by covering it in a layer of polymer clay.  To accomplish this, I rolled out the clay and covered the jar with the single sheet.  Then I poked this layer with pins.  Using my hands, I pushed the clay up against the jar tight while excess air was pushed out through the holes.  Then I smoothed over the surface to hide the holes.

I stamped out the design on another piece of clay and attached it to the original piece before firing.  To do this, I rolled out the piece of clay and dusted the surface with cornstarch.  Then I dusted the surface of the stamp with more cornstarch and pressed it into the clay.  I blew off as much cornstarch as I could before adhering the stamped section using a little liquid polymer clay.  I smoothed down the edges of the added piece using my finger. 

The bottle was then baked and the stamped section was later highlighted by covering it in black acrylic paint thinned with a little water and cleaning it off the top surface before it dried.  The neck was wrapped in twine and the twine ends finished with beads.  A brown polymer clay "tag" is also hung from the neck.  I intend to replace this with a piece of wood labeled using a wood burner.

Erumpent Horn Bottle

This magical ingredient bottle looks like a stick of dynamite because it contains something just as destructive, an Erumpet Horn.  I started out by covering this tall bottle in cleaned egg shells.  Working in sections, I brushed some glue in a small area of the bottle and pressed down a large piece of eggshell.  Then, using a toothpick, I spread out the pieces on the sea of glue to create a sort of mosaic pattern with tiny gaps.  This process was repeated until the entire bottle was covered.  Once dry, I painted over the entire surface and then antiqued it using acrylic paints and glazes.

Then, I drilled a hole in the original screw-on lid and covered it in polymer clay (sans the hole) and baked it hard.  To create the fuse, I strung beads and pulled the strand through the hole, securing it from the inside by tying a knot around a bead inside the lid.  The label was made on my computer, printed onto ivory paper and the front side rubbed with a candle.  This gave it a protective coat and made it appear old.  The complete text says: 

Potentially Explosive!
Do not use around small children, farm animals, empty fields, shoes, acorns, wands, fires, cheese, owls, gold, silver, copper, glass, ceramics, iron, alcohol, toothpaste, certain species of rainforest toads, toenail clippings, or blood.
Purchaser takes this into custody at his or her own risk.
Have a pleasant day!

Gold Potion Bottle

This is the first in my series of potion bottles, created out of a variety of elements.  I use a lot of polymer clay but I've been known to use other substances including egg shells to create the look I'm after.

The base is a clear glass Christmas ornament.   I bought the cork at my local hardware store from the bulk bins.  The hardware store's bulk bins have inspired a number of projects of mine.  I covered the ornament in gold polymer clay by carefully pressing pieces of clay all over the surface and smoothing out the clay as I worked.  This was baked and other clay embellishments were added using liquid polymer clay to bond the baked and fresh pieces:

• A twisted rope of clay formed into a circle allows it to stand up.  Another was added to the neck of the bottle.
• A slightly different shade of gold polymer clay was rolled out, coated with cornstarch, stamped with a cornstarch dusted rubber stamp, and placed in the center before baking on the clay.  (Once baked, I was able to rinse off the cornstarch which worked as a mold release.) 
• I added a silver-backed flat glass marble made using my Faux Gemstone technique.